Display mount sheet for greeting cards



May 10, 1960 E. D. TOWNSEND, JR., ETAL 2,935,307

DISPLAY MOUNT SHEET FOR GREETING CARDS Filed Sept. 5, 1957 INVENTORS.

ATTORNE S.

DISPLAY MOUNT SHEET FOR GREETING CARDS Elmer D. Townsend, In, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Richard A. Hollmann, Fort Thomas, Ky., assignors to Gibson Art Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application September 3, 1957, Serial No. 681,597

3 Claims. (Cl. 40-158) Our invention relates to greeting card mount sheets and more particularly to 'a mount sheet made of pressboard or other similar material, and die cut to provide tabs into which the particular card to be displayed may be inserted.

In a conventional greeting card display wherein mount sheets are employed, an individual card is secured to each mount sheet and the sheets are arranged in rows in a suitable supporting structure arranged so that the prospective purchaser may thumb through the mount sheets until the desired card is found, whereupon the file number of the card may be noted and a duplicate obtained from the stock supply, which is generally contained in file drawers beneath the display.

While various forms of mount sheets have hitherto been proposed, none of them have been entirely satisfactory. In one current type the card to be displayed is placed in a transparent envelope secured to the face of the mount sheet. While this adequately protects the card from being soiled, it does not permit the prospective purchaser to view the inside of the folded card without removing it from the envelope. The envelopes are also disadvantageous in that they are formed from light weight material, such as cellophane, and hence mutilate easily upon repeated handling. In addition, Where cards of irregular shape are encountered, the cards will not remain upright in the envelopes and hence are not displayed to their best advantage. In other types of mount sheets, the cards are adhered directly to the mount sheets or are secured to the mount sheets by means of corner tabs. In either event, it is relatively difficult to replace the card being displayed should a change be desired, particularly where the new card is of a different size. Consequently, in many instances, the display card cannot be reused and hence must be discarded.

In the light of the foregoing, it is a principal object of our invention to provide an improved mount sheet having die cut tabs which are so arranged that cards of diverse size and shape may be readily attached in display position.

A further object of our invention is the provision of a display card on which the mounting tabs are so arranged that a folded card may be mounted so that it may be readily opened to inspect the inside page or pages.

Still a further object of our invention is the provision of a mount sheet of the character described which is provided with a transparent cover which serves to protect the card from being soiled and yet can be readily opened to permit the inspection of the inner pages of the card.

Still a further object of our invention isthe provision of a display card the surfaces of which are so treated that the die cut edges of the tabs will not smudge or mar the card. In this connection, it may be observed that the mount sheets are formed from black pressboard which contains a substantial quantity of carbon black. While the finished surfaces of the board do not themnited States-Patent the center of the mount sheet.

Patented May 10,1960

ICE

selves smudge the card, we have found that the raw die cut edges will mar the cards.

The foregoing, together with other objects of our invention which will appear hereinafter or which will be apparent to the skilled worker in the art upon reading these specifications, we accomplish by that construction and arrangement of parts and by those procedures of which we shall now describe an exemplary embodiment.

Reference is made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a mount sheet having die cut tabs formed in accordance with our invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of a mount sheet provided with a transparent cover, the view also illustrating the manner in which a card of irregular configuration may be securely mounted.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Figure 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating one manner in which the surfaces of the mount sheets may be treated in accordance with our invention.

Figure 6 is also a diagrammatic view illustrating another manner in which the die cut sheets may be treated.

Referring first to Figure 1, we have therein illustrated a mount sheet 1 comprising a rectangular sheet of pressboard or other similar material. By way of a non-limiting example, We have found that black 16 point pressboard will be explained hereinafter, this problem is solved by treating the board following the die cutting operations.

In accordance with our invention, the mounting sheet v is, provided with three rows of die cut tabs, such rows being indicated by the letters A, B and C. Rows A and B are in vertical alignment and centrally disposed with respect to the opposite side edges of the mount sheet,

with the tabs in each row extending inwardly toward Row C is horizontally disposed and extends inwardly from adjacent the right hand margin of the sheet to substantially its center, the row being substantially medially disposed with respect to the top and bottom edges of the card.

The tabs 2 are of uniform configuration and defined by generally U-shaped lines of cut 3. Preferably, the opposite sides of the tabs will converge toward a short, relatively narrow tip 4. The spacing of the tabs is such that the tip 4 of one tab will lie along substantially the base line of the next adjacent tab, such base line being indicated by the aligned cuts 5 projecting outwardly from the free ends of the U-shaped cuts. With this spacing of the tabs, one of the tabs will always be available for engaging the marginal edge portions of the card to be displayed, irrespective of its size or shape. Thus, as seen in Figure 1, the card is engaged along its upper edge beneath tab 7 deflected upwardly from row A, along its lower marginal edge by tab 8 from row B, and along its right side edge by tab 9 in row C. It should be apparent that if the length or width of the card were increased to the extent that the edges thereof would is thus capable of receiving and positioning any card the dimensions of which are within the size limitations of the sheet itself.

As will be evident from Figure 3 of the drawings, the rows of tabs A, B and C adapt the mount sheet to cards of irregular shape, such irregularly shaped card being indicated by the reference numeral 10. In addition, the arrangement of the tabs facilitates the display of folding cards in that the rear-most page of the card would be engaged in the appropriate tabs with the cover or front of the card free from attachment to the tabs and hence capable of being opened. As seen in Figure 3, the card is composed of a folded sheet having an outer or cover portion 11 and an inner or back portion 12 foldably connected together along a common edge 13. The tabs 14, 15 and 16 engage the rear sheet 12 so that the cover sheetll may be opened along the hinge line 13, as represented in Figure 4.

If desired, and as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, the mount sheet may be provided with a hinged transparent cover 16 formed from acetate film or the like. The transparent cover sheet may be conveniently secured to the mount sheet by means of a lengthwise strip 17 of pressure sensitive tape or the like.

In order to prevent the die cut edges of the tabs from marring the cards thereby engaged, we have found that these edges can be sealed by the application of a thin film of lacquer to the surfaces of the board subsequent to the die cutting operation. This thin film of lacquer provides an excellent surface finish for the mount sheets and at the same time serves the basic purpose of sealing the cut edges of the tabs so that the carbon black contained in the pressboard does not black-mark the cards. 7

While various forms of sealing material may be employed, we have found that a flat, clear nitrocellulose base lacquer having a viscosity of from 325 to 375 cps. at 70 F. provides excellent results. The lacquer is preferably applied by roll coating, as diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 5, the die cut mount sheet 1 being fed between coacting rollers 18 and 18a, with the lacquer applied to the roller 18 from applicator 19 by means of transfer rollers 20. While the quantity of lacquer may be varied, we found that ,a coating formed by applying approximately 1% pounds of lacquer per 1,000 square feet of 16 pt. pressboard provides the necessary seal at the cut edges of the tabs.

While roller coating of the pressboard is preferred, the lacquer may be sprayed on to good effect, as illustrated in Figure 6 wherein a sheet of pressboard 1 is shown being passed beneath a spray nozzle 21. Here again, the intensity of the spray will be adjusted so as to provide thedesired thickness for the coating.

It will be understood, of course, that additional printed indicia may be applied to the mount sheets. For example, as seen in Figure 3, the upper edge of the sheet may be provided with an ear or tab 22 on which various information such as the type of card, price and code numbers may be printed. Preferably, such printing will be done prior to the application of the lacquer finish so that the lacquer will serve as a protective coating for the ink.

Having thus described our invention in certain exemplary embodiments, what we desire to secure and protect by Letters Patent:

1. In a mount sheet for greeting cards, a generally rectangular sheet formed from pressboard and die cut to provide aligned rows of card engaging tabs, said sheet containing carbon black as a coloring agent, the die cut edges of said sheet being sealed by a film of lacquer applied to at least one surface thereof.

2.The structure claimed in claim 1 wherein said lacquer comprises a flat, clear nitrocellulose base having a viscosity of from 325 to 375 cps. at F. and is applied in an amount substantially 1% pounds per 1,000 square feet of sheet material.

3. A mount sheet for greeting cards comprising a generally rectangular sheet of pressboard containing carbon black as a coloring agent, said sheet having three aligned rows of card engaging tabs die cut therein, a first of said rows of tabs being centrally disposed and extending vertically from adjacent the top edge of said sheet downwardly toward the center thereof, the second of said rows extending upwardly from the bottom of said sheet toward the center thereof in vertical alignment with said first named row, and the third of said rows extending inwardly from one side edge of sheet toward the center thereof, the tabs in each of said rows being formed with their free edges extending toward the center of said sheet, each of said tabs having a base and a tip, the tabs in each of said rows being arranged so that the tip of one tab substantially coincides with the base of the next adjacent tab, the die cut edges of said tab being sealed by a film of lacquer applied to at least one surface thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 236,244 Nurre Jan. 4, 1881 1,435,762 Tomsich Nov. 14, 1922 1,477,131 Kulik Dec. 11, 1923 1,972,012 Falkoff Aug. 28, 1934 2,532,132 Vogel Nov. 28, 1950 2,677,910 Morgan May 11, 1954 2,748,017 Hunt May 29, 1956 2,768,460 Northup Oct. 30, 1956 

